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A New “Delors Plan” for EU Imperialism?

From the series European news

Battlelines for a new world order based on power are being drawn right now. [...] This must be Europe's Independence Moment. So said Ursula von der Leyen in her annual State of the Union address to the European Parliament on September 10th. On the military front, the Commission president praised the historic progress made in recent years in building a European Defence Union. She referred to Readiness 2030, the programme launched in early 2025, which aims to mobilise up to €800 billion in defence investment, and the SAFE programme, which provides €150 billion in European loans for joint military purchases. The Commission also wants to create a drone wall along the Union's eastern borders and an Eastern Flank Watch.

Von der Leyen announced that a clear roadmap for getting new common defence projects off the ground, setting clear goals for 2030, and creating a European Defence Semester would be presented at the next European Council meeting. The Commission's current periodic review of national budgets, known as the European Semester, would therefore be extended to include more detailed scrutiny of defence budgets by the EU executive.

The times of European rearmament

In this newspaper, we have focused on the time factor in European rearmament. By invoking the spectre of the Russian threat, Europe seeks not only to build an effective deterrent against Moscow, but also to negotiate on equal terms with the US and other powers. Yet, within the timeframe required for this process, Europe's military dependence on the US means it must work to restrain American vacillation and avoid a rupture, even at the price of short-term concessions. Sabine Weyand, head of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Trade, has described the tariff agreement with Trump as an exercise in strategic patience.

In an interview with La Stampa on September 7th, European Commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubilius explained: Washington is looking at China and intends to shift part of its strategic focus to the Indo-Pacific. That is why we must immediately strengthen our capabilities. In short: two objectives. First, to be ready to deter Russian aggression. [...] Second, to define with Washington how and when the Americans will reduce their presence, and how we will fill that gap. Thus – asked La Stampa – deterrence now and autonomy tomorrow? Exactly was Kubilius' reply. The Lithuanian commissioner has a three-stage plan: First: increase European production of equipment that is already available. Second: develop technologies that we currently import, such as long-range missiles. Third: modernise by learning from the drone war.

Another step towards European deterrence

Although Brussels is strengthening its role in coordinating and financing the arms industry, defence issues remain primarily a matter for the States. It is therefore not surprising that defence was one of the central themes at the last meeting of the Franco-German Council of Ministers on August 29th. Affirming that nuclear deterrence is the foundation of the Alliance's security and recognising the contribution of France's independent strategic nuclear forces, it was announced that Germany and France will launch a strategic dialogue under the leadership of the German Chancellery and the French Presidency, with the participation of the foreign and defence ministries.

On July 10th, the Northwood Declaration announced the creation of a UK-France Nuclear Control Steering Group. A week later, the Kensington Treaty, signed on July 17th, committed the United Kingdom and Germany to pursue deep exchanges on strategic aspects of security policy, including deterrence and defence, [and] nuclear issues. It is now confirmed that confidential discussions on European deterrence are underway between Paris, London, and Berlin.

Manhattan Projects and common debt

At the request of the Paris and Berlin governments, the Franco-German Council of Economic Experts prepared a report for the summit with strategic proposals in five areas: defence, energy, productivity and growth, labour markets, and trade with China. In the defence sector, the experts propose the creation of a single market and the rapid development of joint defence resources that allow for interoperability and operational efficiency of European forces without US strategic support, such as satellite-based intelligence, surveillance and communication infrastructure, strategic air transport [...], military mobility, and air defence systems. To close the acute capability gaps in high-tech – the report states – Europe needs to launch large-scale European 'Manhattan projects' to catch up with the US and China.

Since the major European countries have highly unequal fiscal capacities, the solution is to finance common defence resources through debt issuance at the same [European] level that owns those resources, while asking all European countries that benefit from them to contribute to the debt servicing in relation to their GDP. It is proposed that the obstacle of Article 346 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which exempts the defence industry from single market rules, be overcome by an intergovernmental treaty similar to the European Stability Mechanism. The advantage of such an approach is that not all countries would be obliged to participate, but that it could and should include both Ukraine and the United Kingdom.

Chinese investments

While the chapter on defence is motivated by Russia's aggressive war and a decline in confidence in transatlantic security guarantees, the chapter on China seeks answers to the global imbalances caused by the latter's rise to the status of a global industrial superpower. The authors write that the success of China is not based solely on State aid and 'unfair' industrial policies, but is intrinsic to the Chinese development model. In a manner similar to the suggestions of the Draghi Report, they propose striking a balance between preventing unfair competition and maintaining the benefits of openness.

First, openness to trade and investment should be maintained, but handled more strategically. Second, one should let European buyers reap the benefits of low Chinese prices in non-strategic sectors. Third, in important sectors where Europe is lagging behind, such as electric car batteries, Chinese and other foreign direct investment in Europe, preferably linked to technology transfers and joint ventures should be encouraged. It is an involuntary demonstration of the uneven development of imperialism that European experts are resorting to this recipe, which China itself has been using for decades.

The fourth point is to strengthen competitiveness through industrial and trade policies in sectors where Europe has important industries of its own that operate at the technological frontier. Finally, it will be necessary to counter Chinese policy on strategic raw materials.

Challenges and deadlines

The European Policy Innovation Council think tank estimates that, one year after the publication of the Draghi Report, 11% of its 383 recommendations have been fully implemented, 20% only partially, and 46% are in progress. To speed up the implementation of the reports by Mario Draghi (on competitiveness) and Enrico Lettta (on the completion of the single market), in her speech von der Leyen urged that clear political deadlines be set. To this end, she will present a Single Market Roadmap to 2028 for the single market. That year will mark the expiry of the EU's next multiannual budget.

The president is effectively echoing a recent speech by François Villeroy de Galhau, governor of the French Central Bank, delivered on May 14th during a hearing of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the French National Assembly: I call for a deadline for mobilisation, as Jacques Delors did in the past with January 1st, 1993, for the single market, and January 1st, 1999, for the single currency. It is up to the Commission to propose this deadline and the Council to approve it, but why not January 1st, 2028?. Enrico Letta echoes this: For me, 2028 is a new 1992, the year in which all energies were mobilised for the birth of the single market [Il Sole-24 Ore, September 14th]. Will the Draghi Report become the new Delors Plan?

Lotta Comunista, September 2025

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